LISfifty's Journal, 08 November 2023

Theoretically, you increase your energy consumption to a point that weight-loss stops. When it stops, you note that point, then you increase till you see a gain, your maintenance is the span in the middle of those points......The actual practice of it is something I must confess to never succeeding at 😁 Hopefully someone here will have better advice! 

1. Understand that your weight will always fluctuate, for me it’s within the same 15-20 pounds. I’ve stayed in that range for over 10 years so I consider it maintenance even though others may be more strict with their limits. I don’t see the need to be that strict because I know I always stay in this range and I can forgive myself a little as I live my life. I personally think being too strict with your maintenance range can only lead to burnout. 2. Develop a good relationship with exercise. Depend on it for your mental health, stress relief, happy brain chemicals. When you feel that you need exercise to feel like you’re fully “you”, and without it you feel deeply uncomfortable physically and mentally, you will keep doing it even if you temporarily stop caring about your physical health or your food habits. That is what has worked for me, it has seemed to impose a kind of ceiling to any periodic weight gain for me, because at my worst times I use exercise to cope a little more than I use food. 3. Put a huge value on sleep and rest and keeping your central nervous system calm. This means dealing with stress and anxiety and processing your feelings and building connection to the people around you. This last one I almost never see anyone talk about in the context of losing or maintaining weight but I sometimes think it might be the most important, at least for me 🤔 Your mileage may vary, of course. 

I look forward to maintenance someday! Nice responses! 

I first spent almost a year dieting and exercising before I reached the point of maintenance. So by the time I got to maintenance I had developed sustainable habits that for me have been life changing. In other words, exercising regularly is something I look forward to and in fact I feel negative effects if I don’t do it. And being mindful of healthful eating is now just a part of the fabric of my life. That said, it can be super easy to slip back into old habits. This app and community are a great way to stay connected. 

Following! I lost 60 pounds after I had my baby and gained 30 back after a year. I’ve lost 15 since, but today I ate almost 4,000 calories 😅 can anyone say binge day? 

think of maintenence not as a weight number, but the numbers of food and exercise you track. my saying is "it's just as much work and effort to stay down as it was to get down". so, in essence, the "diet" never stops. so for me, to put it objectively - 1800 calories a day, exercise once to twice a day. 150 grams protein, 60 grams fat, 150 carbs. keep sodium under 2000. every day. saturday is diet cheat day. sunday restart. exercise, meal prep and tracking/weighing every day is non-negotiable for me. 

The journey is always a struggle, peaks and valleys, I just DO the best I can ! 

Have been maintaining for a few years now and I just keep it logging with fatsecret as if I was still needing to loose. I stay with in a 5 pound range ~ some week are better than others but a never go over the goal weight I had set for myself back in 2018. It is 5 days a week work outs and counting macros~ Staying healthy is a full time job. :) 

@lux123 - yes! And maybe the words I should have said for 3 are “mental resilience”. If you can see your feelings passively as an observer from the outside you are less likely to get overtaken by feelings and binge, if that’s the cycle for you. Or whatever your triggers or issues may be... building strong foundations for dealing with the mental part of life can be huge for overall health  

@DRudd, I hear you on the mental resilience, meditation helps me a lot when I do it every day, the bad part about that is, when I am ill or dealing with a crisis, my TAKE CHARGE MIND kicks in and starts ordering everyone around, and that minds is too Type A to reach for the help of meditation, so afterword, I am left limping along till I get back in my meditation groove, so i have days' sometimes weeks struggling with the aftermath of the take charge mind. 

@debrafrederick I get it, it’s not easy when you’re “in it”. We’re all just trying to get by especially at the tough times. It’s been a lifelong struggle for me to manage all the big feelings too. I admire people who can meditate - personally I’m too fidgety and squirmy and I can’t focus 😂 But some exercise can be kind of meditative - anything that’s rhythmic and repetitive, like biking, running, swimming, rowing, so I gravitate toward that stuff when I need relief. But I don’t have it all figured out or anything 🤷‍♀️ i have parts of my life that i know are pretty unhealthy. It’s hard living life inside these minds we have lol  

Thank you all for the time invested to share your wisdom. I think that the take away is that whatever got you to goal weight; represents a lifetime practice. I believe you. I don’t want to accept it. And you must have a tried and true way to handle stress. I get that in theory. But in practice; it is hard. Case in point; a hit and run side-swiped my 2022 just paid off car. I am getting nowhere with law officials. So I took myself to get ice cream, a four scoop sampler and sat their and ate it all until I felt better. I hate that I did that. Today is a new day. I know how to get to goal: now I believe that I must really work on handling stress, and I can’t rule out therapy for that. I’ll be coming back to read your responses from time to time. I appreciate these truths so much. You all are a treasure. 

I am going to practice my glad game here, that I just posted about this morning! I am so glad that you are within 10 lbs of your goal weight, that is quite an accomplishment in and of itself! I hate that your car was damaged, it's quite a setback when you have finally made that last payment! I am so glad you were not injured, that is a blessing....cars can be repaired or replaced, you and your good health cannot be. I'm sorry that the stress made you feel the need to binge on ice-cream to feel better, but I am glad that you realize that it was not the real answer to your problem and you are getting up, dusting yourself off and getting back on the horse that threw you, you have a plan for the future to deal with stress and that is a major victory! Well done!!